In order to connect electrodes of a semiconductor element to external leads, a bonding wire has been conventionally used. When such wire is used for connecting the semiconductor element and a lead frame to each other, such a method has been affected that both components are pressure-bonded through ultrasonic waves, or for the electrodes of the semiconductor element, a hot pressure bonding is affected after each tip thereof has been balled up by arc.
However, it has been recently achieved to make an integrated circuit (IC) smaller in size and to make the degree of integration thereof higher, with the result that there occurs such problem that, due to an increase in number of electrodes, the electrodes have occupied a too large area in the case of a conventional wire diameter. In order to solve this problem, it is necessary to make the diameter of wire small. However, in the case where the now available wire is made small in size, the wire is apt to rupture to high degree during a wiring operation and the use thereof. Such wire cannot be used practically.
At the present time, as the bonding wire for bonding an electrode on a semiconductor device and an external terminal, a thin wire (bonding wire) is mainly being used. For bonding a bonding wire, the ultrasonic bonding/thermal compression bonding method is the most general. A general purpose bonding machine and a capillary jig through which the wire is passed for connection are used. The tip of the wire is heated to melt by arc heat input, the surface tension is used to form a ball, then this ball part is pressed against an electrode of the semiconductor device heated in range for bonding, then the wire is directly bonded to the external lead side by ultrasonic bonding.
These wire bonding techniques are particularly noteworthy, for example, in portable information and communication devices such as cellular phones, hands-free cellular phone headsets, personal data assistants (“PDA's”), camcorders, notebook computers, and so forth. All of these devices continue to be made smaller and thinner to improve their portability. Accordingly, large-scale IC (“LSI”) packages that are incorporated into these devices are required to be made smaller and thinner. The package configurations that house and protect LSI require them to be made smaller and thinner as well.
Thus, a need still remains for an integrated circuit packaging system providing reliability and low cost manufacturing. In view of the ever-increasing need to increase density of integrated circuits and particularly portable electronic products, it is increasingly critical that answers be found to these problems. In view of the ever-increasing commercial competitive pressures, along with growing consumer expectations and the diminishing opportunities for meaningful product differentiation in the marketplace, it is critical that answers be found for these problems. Additionally, the need to reduce costs, improve efficiencies and performance, and meet competitive pressures adds an even greater urgency to the critical necessity for finding answers to these problems.
Solutions to these problems have been long sought but prior developments have not taught or suggested any solutions and, thus, solutions to these problems have long eluded those skilled in the art.